White House Weighing Executive Order on Cybersecurity

A look at the week of August 14 in public advocacy for the IT channel: President Obama is currently weighing an executive order that would help prevent cyber attacks on critical infrastructure one week after the Senate failed to pass legislation, says the National Journal. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes that cloud computing is dangerous and will lead to major problems in the next few years, says the Huffington Post. GOP lawmakers in the Senate are firing back against Senate Democrats this week after both sides failed to agree on cybersecurity legislation, claiming that Democrats held the Senate back from making improvements to the latest bill, says The Hill

White House Weighing Executive Order on Cybersecurity – President Barack Obama currently is weighing an executive order that would help prevent cyber attacks on critical infrastructure one week after the Senate failed to pass legislation, says the National Journal.  John Brennan, the White House homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, said that President Obama already has urged officials to use existing authority to bolster our nation’s cyber defenses and is ready to make whatever calls are necessary to make sure we’re protected, although he did not go into specifics.

Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Thinks Cloud Computing Will Be 'Horrendous' – Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes that cloud computing is dangerous and will lead to major problems in the next few years, says the Huffington Post. Wozniak feels that the more data we transfer to the “cloud,” the less actual control we actually have over it. Last week, Gizmodo’s Twitter account was hacked by someone who had breached former contributor Mat Honan’s iCloud account, allowing the hacker access to several of Honan’s devices.

GOP Senators Slam Democrats on Cybersecurity Stall – GOP lawmakers in the Senate are firing back against Senate Democrats this week after both sides failed to agree on cybersecurity legislation, claiming that Democrats held the Senate back from making improvements to the latest bill, says The Hill. The nine Republican senators are co-sponsors of a rival bill – the Secure IT Act – indicating that the “bipartisan war over cybersecurity legislation is still fuming, and it’s unclear whether the two sides will be able to reach a compromise on the issue before the end of recess.”